


Antlers

by Avid Moron (Nevermore9)



Category: Bambi - All Media Types
Genre: Dreams, Friendship, Healing, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 11:32:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4477676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevermore9/pseuds/Avid%20Moron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having developed budding antlers, a maturing Bambi suffers from nightmares of his recent mother's death, constantly being brought back to that tragic day; and only a new friend may help him heal old wounds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Antlers

The Winter had died, melted away at the budding of new life sweeping throughout the forest. The air carried cool breezes laced with the sweet chirping of birds; and every tree, once bare with Winter's bite, now flourished with pinks, greens, whites, and reds. The vivid colors of Spring showed their many faces in each leaf, log, branch, and feather. It was truly a picturesque setting, gentle paired along side serene, with a blend of breathtaking beauty. No animal seemed to even miss a day of the old season; and the silver maelstrom of Winter had especially been in the furthest reaches of Bambi's mind, as the young deer strolled past thickets of tiny brush, and over plump roots. So much so that Bambi had, on occasion, made conscious effort to surpress the white landscape from his head, because snow reminded him of his mother, and the thought of his mother always left a hollow pain in his chest and a tear lingering in his eye.  
Focus was the only matter of importance to the small buck now, the only matter worth his attention; afterall "a prince must always be in tune with his surroundings, to feel them constantly". That is what his father had instructed and Bambi obeyed the slightest word that the current prince spoke; and the anxiety of pleasing the grand stag incessantly fueled his every action. It was rough work indeed, but still it had been accomplished, whiffing the scent of fresh dew drops on the nose, spotting the tiniest leaf falling out of place with the eyes, and catching the softest melody of a cricket's music in the ears. Though using these senses now something seemed oddly out of place to Bambi. Perhaps it was the crumble of a twig beneath a creeping hoof that first alerted him.  
"Boo!" The deep toned, menacing, growl sounded in Bambi's eardrum from behind. He spun around hastily in half of a gasp, and a trace of fear stalling his heartbeat, not sure what terrorizing beast he'd find, until his brain processed the word and then the sight before to form the name "Ronno".  
"Hey, Princess." The dark furred deer taunted with the smug cock of his head and narrowing flutter of his green eyes. He circled once around Bambi, slowly taking his well deserved time with careful strides, sharp gaze scanning up and down the entirity of the younger, lighter, buck's body. Then, as he paused snout to snout with Bambi, Ronno's look fell on something in particular.  
"Nice stumps." The older buck teased, gesturing to Bambi's developing antlers, hardly anything spectacular. "Why don't you take a look at how antlers are supposed to look." Ronno boldly stated with an over the top flourish of his head, flaunting the fledgling knobs sprouting from his skull. "Pretty great, huh?" The deer stated, pride swelling up his chest as he looked up cross eyed at them. A hopeful smirk grew across his face as his stare snapped back to Bambi, searching for any signs of admiration, or intimidation. For the most part the other, younger buck, just simply nodded along to Ronno's pompous showcase of his maturity with a fairly disinterested expression, sending a bitter frown across the darker buck's face.  
"It's ok to admit they're bigger." Ronno said, condescending arrogance hitting Bambi with every syllable, yet there was an undertone of desperate despair as the deer fished for any reaction he could get from the younger buck. Positive or negative, he didn't care much at all, he just wanted something from Bambi, something that showed his jealously plain and clear. And growing impatient for a reply, ages seeming to pass for the lighter deer to collect words, Ronno stabbed a frustrated, green eyed, scowl toward Bambi; approaching confidently in aim to frighten the younger buck into rightful submission.  
"They are pretty lovely?" Bambi managed to squeak back, shyness in his voice; and despite his shakiness it wasn't exactly a lie. It was true Ronno's antlers were larger than his own, and in a certain light Bambi wasn't afraid to admit that they did look sort of magnificent. Though by Ronno's discontently widened eyes, it appeared he didn't see it the same way.  
"Lovely?" Ronno questioned, the words sent a quiver to his stomach, making him feel queasy and off balance. It must have been anger he was feeling, it had to be; Bambi was mocking him, the flattery was obviously mockery in disguise, and no matter the confliction within him Ronno was settling on that. So, doing the only thing he knew how in these situations, the coffee colored buck lowered his horns and advanced, pressuring Bambi back against the bark of a tree.  
"You think I'm a doe or something, huh!?" Ronno pressed bitterly, levelling his antlers in a wave to Bambi's throat.  
"Come on, Ronno, I didn't mean it like that." Bambi retorted calmly. He wasn't scared, persay, truthfully a touch annoyed, but he knew Ronno enough to know he liked to talk of, and hint to, things he mostly likely wouldn't do. "All I meant is I like them." He added, placidly sitting himself down after realizing there was no more room between himself and the tree behind him.  
The older buck chuckled, his ego inflating on Bambi's compliments, and cracked an amused grin. "You wanna try them out?" He asked confidently, with a faint hint of playfulness, prancing back and forth as he shook his head heartily in competition. "Come on, let's spar!" He nagged angstily, eyes showing jubilant cheerfulness.  
"No thanks." Bambi kindly smiled back, half heartedly, then awkwardly excused himself by squeezing out from the range of Ronno's antlers and the tree trunk.  
"You afraid or what!?" Ronno sneered, growing wrathfully upset at Bambi's disregard for something that was supposed to be fun for the both of them.  
"No, I just don't want to." The copper deer responded firmly. He turned and started his lonesome walk back home through the livliness of the forest; hardly noticing, behind him, Ronno's ears falling behind his head in disappointment and tail descending between his legs in sorrow. Before he could return to his focus on the natural world, Bambi heard the hopeless call gust into his hearing, like the cry of a pleading fawn, carried on a soft breeze.  
"Wait!" Ronno glumly begged, trotting speedily to catch up along Bambi's side. "You know we were only messing around back there, right?" The chocolate buck asked, trying to put on a humorous grin, though it came off more wobbly and pathetic than anything. "I mean, that's what friend's do?" He said, wanting to sound sure in his statement, but it rolled out as a question; Ronno not ever having really experienced, what the other deer would consider, friendship.  
Bambi blinked curiously, finding Ronno's suddenly attentively innocent behavior strange, the older buck usually not being one for cordiality. Listening to Ronno's craving of attention confused Bambi even more, and made him take a hesitant step backward, raising a skeptical brow. "We're friends?"  
"Of course we are!" Ronno exclaimed, bursting out into bubbly boisterous laughter that was cut off routinely by giggled snorts. Though quickly his bright demeanor crumbled away in place of drooping ears and upturned frown, at seeing Bambi's doubtfully puzzled reaction to his attempt at lightening the mood. "Well, aren't we?" He questioned somberly, green eyes sparkling cutesy ignorance. It wasn't hard to see the need for friendship battling against Ronno's pride within him; and the tan hided deer could feel nothing besides pity and guilt towards the buck. Pity and guilt, because putting aside Ronno's mean spirited torments he was genuinely a bit likeable to Bambi; he held strength and confidence, all the things he had heard what a prince ought to be like. Thinking about it now, Bambi came to the conclusion that perhaps they should be friends, unless they were already, which never really occured to the deer before. Perhaps if they were he could learn from Ronno, in a way.  
"Well," Bambi started, slowly, devising a way to put this cleverly. "I guess we could be friends, if you want to." He said, an affectionate smile creeping up his face like a twisting, stealthy, snake; and the deer had barely noticed that he had fluttered his eyelashes with compassion towards the brown buck.  
A trace of deep sighing relief surfaced on Ronno's happy, but soon the arrogance returned and that conceited smirk weaved itself into his expression like a sinister spider. "Alright, Princess, I'll be your friend; seeing as how you've got none already." He scoffed, harnassing sadistic pleasure from the trembling downturn of the other deer's eyes at the hurtful words. "I guess I'm just feeling generous today." He went on with a narcissistic roll of his shoulders, narrowed glare stinging like bee's venom. "Count yourself lucky, Kid." Ronno finished with a lurch toward the younger buck, raising himself above the sinking deer and puffing out his chest in dominance.  
**"Ronno!"**  
The motherly holler swept down the plump hill seperating forest from meadow and pounded into Ronno's high lifted skull. Sending the chocolate buck to back off from the crouched Bambi with a disgruntled clench of his teeth. He turned an angrily perturbed head toward the direction of his name, and yelled back a grumpy "Hold on, Mom!" Then facing Bambi, who now stood fully back up on four legs, he flashed a, crooked, uncharacteristic grin. "Looks like I've got to go. See you tomorrow Bambi." He said, and he meant it as a promise, trusting the tanner deer would hold his unspoken end of the bargain as well, before prancing off through the trees. Leaving a mentally, and to an extent, physically dazed Bambi to ponder the motives of that obnoxious, cruel, yet fascinating and, dare he say, charming buck; along with the exact details of their awkward relationship. And watching the cheery Ronno depart over the stout hill, into the lush meadows where the doe grazed and fawns frollicked, Bambi in turn muttered an unheard "See ya."


End file.
